Tackling-dummy.



F. A. HINKEY.

TACKLING DUMMY.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 29, l9l6.

Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

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F. A. HINKEY. TACKLING DUMMY. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 29. 191 6.

1,204,01 7. Patented Nov. 7, 1915.

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um as FRANK A. HINKEY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

TACKLING-DUMMY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. *7, 1916.

Application filed February 29, 1916. Serial No. 81,156.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. HINKEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tackling- Dummies, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to football apparatus, and more particularly to dummies used in the practice of tackling and blocking. Heretofore the dummy proper, composed of a suitably stuffed body, has usually been suspended from the top in such a manner that it can swing about freely. In tackling adummy of this kind, however, the conditions are quite diiferent from those in a football game, where it is attempted to tackle a running player, and therefore the ordinary form of dummy is of little value in teaching the art of tackling a runner. This is due to the fact that the runner is usually in touch with the earth to a certain extent at any given moment, either by means of one leg or both, so that in order to down the runner on the spot, it is necessary to block his further advance by the shoulder or arms or body of the tackler, and at the same time to destroy his footing to thereby prevent further pushing or pulling effort. In order to do this the tackler should use his arms so as to exert a lifting force on the legs of the runner.

One of the primary objects of the present invention is to furnish a dummy which is so constructed and arranged that the conditions of actual tackling are closelv simulated without injury to the players.

More particularly, it is aimed to provide a suspended dummy which is so anchored or restrained from beneath that a lifting force exerted on the dummy figure in tackling will be resisted to about the same extent as in tackling a running player.

Other objects of the invention are to provide improved means for weighting or restraining a suspended dummy from the bottom, and to improve the general construction and operation of devices of the class to which the invention relates.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of a tackling dummy embodying my improvements, with certain parts below the ground level indicated in dotted lines; Fig. 2, is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. A} is an enlarged section 011 line il of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the lower trough; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail of a modification; and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail of another modified form.

The dummv proper 10 is preferably made to simulate the legs and body of a football player, as usual, for which purpose it may consists of a canvas or similar covering filled with sawdust or other stuiiing. It is suspended from a suitable support, such as a horizontal cross-bar 11, supported on up.- rights 12. A rope 13 by which the dummy is suspended from the top runs over a pulley 14, supported on the cross-bar, and thence over a pulley 15 to a counterweight 16. The pulley 15 and counterweight 16 may be mounted in a trough-like member 17 applied to one of the uprights 12, but this is not essential. By means of the rope 13 and counterweight 16, the dummy is sus pended at a suitable height in such a manner that the dummy can be pulled through a considerable distance in opposition to the counterweight.

In accordance with my invention, the dummy is weighted or restrained at the bottom so that a considerable lifting force is necessary in proper tackling, as previously intimated. In order to accomplish this re sult, I cause a suitable counterweight or the like to act on the lower part of the dummy. In the form shown, a wire rope 18 connected to the lower part of the dummy extends downward through the sawdust 19 into a trough-like member 20, through a hole 21. The wire rope is then led laterally through a pulley block 22 swingingly mounted on a flexible member 23, and said rope is also conducted laterally over pulleys 24:, 25 to a trough-shaped member 28. In the form shown, this trough-shaped member 28 is located oppositely with respect to the trough member 17 and is applied to the other upright of the supporting frame, but this is not a material feature. The wire rope 18 extends upward in the trough member 28 and over a pulley 29 mounted in the upper end portion of said trough member, and thence downward to a counterweight 30 generally similar to the counterweight 16. The sawdust 19 located beneath and around the dummy provides a surface on which the tackler may fall without injury. In the use of the device, the sawdust is apt to sift down into the trough 20, through the opening 21, and for this reason the trough is preferably inclined, as shown, having a clean-out opening 31 at one end, through which a cleaning stick may be introduced when the plug or closure 32 is removed. it the opposite or lower end of the trough 20, the same is provided with a pit 33 into which the sawdust gravitates, said pit being provided with a suitable closure 3 by which access may be had to the same. By preference, the trough member will extend between the uprights 12, as shown, and will be secured thereto by bolts or similar devices, as indicated at 35. rs the trough is subjected to a considerable upward pulling strain, it should be well anchored in the ground, and in addition to its connection to the uprights as described, it may also be anchored in the ground by means of transverse iron bars or the like (not shown).

referring now to the operation of the apparatus, it will be obvious that the counterweight 16 resists downward movement of the upper part of the dummy figure, whereas the counterweight 30 resists upward movement of the lower or leg portion of the dummy figure. This simulates actual conditions in a football game, and therefore valuable practice may be had by using my apparatus. In

'tackling, the player should throw his shoulder against the middle part of the dummy so as to exert a strong pull on the counterweight 16. This gives practice in blocking the advance of a strong runner. At the same time, the player should lift the legs of thedummy by means of his arms, and as this upward movement is resisted by the counterweight 30, the actual conditions of picking up a runner and setting him down on the ground are closely simulated. The connection at the lower part of the dummy also resists lateral or horizontal movement, and in the particular form shown in Fig. 1, lateral movement of the lower part of the dummy in any direction is resisted by the counterweight or its equivalent in exerting a downward pull on the lower part of the dummy.

The improved apparatus is fully as useful in the practice of blocking or interference as in the practice of tackling. In blocking, it is supposed that the dummy is a player on the defensive side who is a possible tackler of the runner with the ball, and the man who is being instructed, and who is supposed to be on the offensive side, is taught to block by throwing his body across the dummy figure so as to pin it to the earth, or by other interfering tactics. To such tactics, the dummy offers efiective resistance in contradistinction to the usual form of dummy suspended from the top which has no reslraint from beneath, and which therefore would fly off freely in a lateral direction if struck by the body of the player in blocking.

In order toprevent the binding of the rope 18 in the hole 21 of trough 9.0, I prefer to employ an antifriction pulley 21 adjacent the hole or perforation 21, as shown in Figs.

and at. The hole or perforation is considerably larger than the rope and the pulley E21 extends over the opening 21 to a certain extent, as shown in Fig. so as to take up the strain on the rope as the latter unoves through the hole and thereby prevent the rope from binding. Each time that the player tackles or blocks the dummy, he runs in the same direction, as indicated by the arrow in F at, and the arrangement of the pulley 21 is such that it will take up the strain on the rope which is produced in that direction. If desired, however, the rope can 7 run between two pulleys." The rope 18 by moving through the trough 20 causes the sawdust collected in the trough to move down the inclined bottom of the trough, and the trough is therefore self-cleaning to a certain extent. r

it will be observed that in the particular form shown, one or more reinforcing ropes or members 36 extend from the rope 13 to the rope 18, preferably through the dummy,

that these two ropes are firmly interconnected without subjecting the covering or ea sing of the dummy to tearing strain. This has proved to bea valuable feature. It might, of course, be practicable to have the ropes 18 and 18 formed as one single rope which runs completely through the dummy.

in 5, I have shown a'modified form of the apparatus in which the dummy 10 is counterweighted from beneath by means of a counterweight 37 suspended from the dummy by a rope 38 and hanging down freely in a pit 39 in the ground.

In the form shown in Fig. 6, therope; or other connection at the lower part of the dummy does not go, into the ground, or beneath the ground level, but is led laterally at to to a pulley a1, and thence over a pulley 42 on an upright 43 to a counterweight 4 Various changes in the details of the apparatus may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined inthe claims. So far as I am aware, I am the first to provide a suspended tackling dummy which is weighted or restrained from the bottom and I'desire to have my claims in this regard given a broad interpretation.

What I claim is: r

l. A suspended tackling dummy, and means for restraining the same .from'the bottom; substantially as described.

2. The combination of a tackling dummy, means for supporting the same above the ground level, and means connected with the lower part of the dummy for restraining the same; substantially as described.

3. The combination with a suspended tackling dummy, of a counterweight connected with the dummy for restraining the lifting movement thereof; substantially as described.

1. The combination with a suspended dummy, of a counterweight, and means of connection between the counterweight and the lower portion of the dummy whereby lifting movement of such lower portion of the dummy is resisted; substantially as described.

5. The combination with a suspended dummy, of a rope connected with the lower end of the dummy, and means connected with said rope for restraining the movement of the lower part of the dummy; substantially as described.

6. The combination with a tackling dummy, of a counterweight device by which it is suspended from the top, and a second counterweight device by which said dummy is restrained at the bottom; substantially as described.

7 In a device of the character described, the combination of a supporting frame, a dummy, a rope suspending said dummy from the top, means connected with said rope for permitting the downward movement of the dummy when a predetermined force is exerted thereon, and means secured to the lower portion of the dummy to restrain the movement thereof; substantially as described.

8. The combination with a suspended tackling dummy, of means for restraining lateral movement of the dummy; substantially as described.

9. The combination with a suspended tackling dummy, of means for restraining lateral movement of the dummy at its lower part; substantially as described.

10. The combination with a suspended tackling dummy, of means for restraining lateral'movement of the lower part of the dummy. in any direction; substantially as described.

11. The combination with a dummy figure and restraining means for said dummy at the upper part thereof, of a reinforcing member extending from saidrestraining means to the lower part of said dummy figure; substantially as described.

12. The combination with a stuffed dummy figure and restraining means for said dummy figure at the upper part thereof, of a reinforcing member extending from the bottom of said dummy figure through said figure and connected with said restraining means; substantially as described.

13. The combination with a dummy figure and restraining means for said dummy figure at the upper and lower parts thereof respectively, of a reinforcing member extending from the restraining means at the upper part of said figure to the restraining means at the lower part. of said figure; substantially as described.

14. The combination with a dummy fig ure and restraining means for said dummy figure at the upper and lower parts thereof respectively, of a reinforcing member extending through said dummy figure and in terconnecting said restraining means; substantially as described.

15. The combination with a tackling dummy, a rope for suspending the same from the top, and a rope for restraining the dummy from the bottom, of a member extending through said dummy and interconnecting said ropes; substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 24th day of Februar 1916.

FRANK A. HINKEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

